THE DANMAN CAN

Focus On Film   Episode 14 is up! Download the MP3  HERE . In this episode: May 2014 Criterion Collection  Titles Announcement Best/Worst Of The Month – FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009), DEATH ON THE NILE (1978), THE CANNONBALL RUN (1981), PAPILLON (1973) "Criterion Most Wanted" "Focus On Film Theme" :  Daniel Sardella

Marketed as a companion piece to his previous album Sea Change , which makes sense as it sounds a lot like that one. I would say that Morning Phase is less "depressing" sounding, but it's still very mellow. A friend of mine described it as a good "before bed" album. That description is accurate, but is slightly unfortunate in my opinion as it typically means it's a mood album and not one that I can just throw on any time. Sea Change  happens to be the only Beck album I don't own (besides Golden Feelings , but I think even he disowned that one) and the one I listen to the least (I do have MP3s), so this one may befall the same fate. I do think the production is gorgeous and there are some nice melodies and instrumentation, but the songs are painfully simple at times and the lyrics very obvious. Many moments border on and even cross into "adult contemporary" and that's always a danger zone. When it comes to "acoustic" Beck L...

Wow. WOW. WOW. This is just an incredible album. I can't remember the last time I had such a good first impression of an album - probably Bowie 's The Next Day , which was my favorite album of last year. And this could easily be my favorite album of this year (it's gonna be hard to top it anyway). It's quite literally a perfect album - every track is concise, energetic, original, catchy. Speaking of Bowie , I don't hesitate to mention  Annie Clark in the same breath as him and Peter Gabriel   because like them, she's a trailblazer. Every one of her 4 albums is unique and worthwhile. She changes her look regularly. And man, can she shred a guitar. I can't even believe this is the same person I saw playing bass for John Vanderslice  in San Diego in 2007, two months before her first album even dropped. Majorly looking forward to listening to this LP again - I can tell it's gonna get a lot of spins this year.

Rififi  (1955) features one of cinema's great sequences—a 24 minute "silent" robbery. If you're not glued to the screen and on the edge of your seat during said sequence, I don't know what to say to you.

"You gotta be fucking kidding..." "I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is." " There's nothing more I can do, just wait... This is R.J. MacReady, helicopter pilot, US outpost # 31 ." "I  mean  it." "I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time, I'd rather not spend the rest of this winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!"  "Yeah, fuck you too!"

Death On The Nile  (1978) is fun, but a pale comparison to/imitation of  Murder On The Orient Express (1974) (even down to the US poster, pictured below). I had a bunch of issues with this film. Despite its length (and it feels long), it leaves out a lot of what's in Agatha Christie 's 1937 book and adds in things I'm not crazy about— Poirot   proposing theories out loud to passengers and also having him assemble the cast of characters to announce the murderer in the finale (something he does a lot in the Christie books, but not in this particular one). Additionally, Peter Ustinov  is good, but doesn't hold a candle to Albert Finney  in my opinion. I realize that Ustinov portrayed the character of Hercule Poirot many times, as opposed to the lone outing with Finney, but something about the latter's more outrageous performance embodies the character (or how I picture him when reading the novels) more accurately in my mind. Ustinov’s Belgian a...

The extra 20 minutes didn't make The Counselor  (2013) any better or worse, in my opinion. I still like this film a lot, but don't quite love it.

My favorite film of all time. P.W. - loner, rebel "I got some new items you might be interested in." "Fruit, please." "Fork over the money, Bux ton ." "Is there something you can share with the rest of us Amazing Larry?!" "The Alamo! In...the basemenT." "I got a real  bad  temper !" "There was this sound...like a garbage truck...dropped off the Empire State Building." "I'm all alone. I'm rolling a big doughnut and there's this snake wearing a vest..." "C'mon Simone, let's talk about your big 'but'." "A- doe -be." "Speck!" "I say ya let  me  have him first." "Tequila!!" "Now!  Now! " "You're gonna burn in hell!" "I don't need to see it. I lived it."

After a second viewing I still don't really quite understand this film, but I like it.